UNCASVILLE >> The first time Alyssa Thomas threw a pass in Brionna Jones’ direction, the wide-eyed freshman hauled it in. The same thing with pass No. 2 and No. 3 and No. 4. It didn’t take long for her to realize Jones was going to be a good teammate.

Well, three years after they last teamed together at the University of Maryland, they will once again share the court when the Connecticut Sun plays host to Chicago in its preseason opener on Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m.

Thomas is going into her fourth season with the WNBA so there’s a pretty good idea what she is capable of doing. However, there will be plenty of eyes on Jones, the eighth overall pick in last month’s WNBA Draft.

“Bri is a really good player, young, raw talent, but one of the cool things about her is you can throw anything to her and she can catch it so definitely looking forward to continuing to play with her,” Thomas said.

The 6-foot-3 Jones led all Division I women’s players with a 69 percent field-goal percentage as a senior after topping the country in the same category as a junior as well, with most of her baskets coming within the shadow of the basket. Jones will earn her playing time with her ability to an effective player in the low post but she is also eager to show that there are more layers to her game than what people saw during her time at Maryland.

“My mid-range game, I have been working on that a lot,” Jones said. “I didn’t get a chance to work from the high post a lot in college so now the way the offense is running, I will be in the high post more to show what I can do from there.”

When Jones got to Maryland, she was still recovering from a torn ACL suffered during her senior season and admitted she needed to get into better shape to thrive in the Terrapins’ up tempo offensive system. She estimates she lost between 40-50 pounds during her time at Maryland.

Jones’ scoring average improved each year, she went from being a 55 percent foul shooter as a freshman to making 77 percent as a senior. Most impressively, after having 2 1/2 turnovers for every assist in her first three seasons, she had more assists than turnovers as a senior.

Her hard work wasn’t limited to the basketball court or in the conditioning program, she also graduated from college in three years, despite the long road trips and life as a Division I athlete.

“Coming into college I knew what I wanted to do and what I wanted to pursue, so that was kind of the easy part, just coming in, then working with Coach B (Brenda Frese) to get my schedule to fit with practice. So she was really great about that. I think I grew a lot in my four years in Maryland and trying to get better at something every year was important to me.”

The work she put in did not go unnoticed, especially from her older teammates.

“When you come into college it is hard, but a lot of people don’t commit to transforming their body, but she was super committed to it,” Thomas said.

“She was one of my favorite freshmen to play with that year. I’m just really happy and proud of what she has accomplished in her career. I reached out to her when her jersey was being put up in the rafters. I knew it was going to happen, but to see it, I am super happy.”

Jones entered Maryland with about a semester’s worth of credits, thanks to her impressive academic work at Aberdeen High School. There would be an additional class to take and plenty of work during summer sessions so she could wrap up her college degree in three years.

“I had a lot of help,” Jones said, “I had two teammates who were doing it with me so there was a lot of support and my family was really supportive. Having all of that support behind you, you know you have people to help you, the academic staff figuring everything out. Some days you don’t want to do it, you don’t want to study and put in all of those hours for those exams, but knowing what it is going to lead to in the future, that pushed me and motivated me.”

Eventually Jones would like to be a pediatrician, but before that takes place she is eager to make an impact in the WNBA. In a perfect world, she would have a healthy Chiney Ogwumike on the court with her. However, a torn Achilles’ tendon will sideline Ogwumike for this WNBA season. As a result, Jones is part of a young core of post players, which includes 2016 first-round picks Morgan Tuck and Jonquel Jones.

“(Sun assistant) Coach (Steve Smith) doesn’t make it easy on us, so I am trying to learn,” Jones said. “At the same time, it is kind of difficult with everybody trying to learn at the same time, there are expectations that you want to meet, which is kind of hard because it is my first time, it is Morgan and JJs second time doing it, so it is just crazy.”

Help will be coming as veteran post Lynetta Kizer was acquired in the same deal that brought the No. 8 draft choice to Connecticut. Kizer, who is still playing overseas, averaged a career-best 9.6 points per game during the 2016 season while playing with the Indiana Fever. When Kizer does arrive, it will give the Sun three University of Maryland graduates with all three expected to make the final roster.

“Maryland is taking over now,” Thomas said with a laugh. “We’ve had UConn, we’ve had Duke and now it is Maryland time. It is cool for us to be back together, I was fortunate enough to be able to play with both Lynetta and Bri so I am super excited. I know what they can do and I am excited for what they bring to this team.”

There will be four preseason games at Mohegan Sun over the next two days. New York and Los Angeles will play at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by the Chicago/Connecticut game. On Wednesday, Chicago plays New York at 5 p.m. followed by Los Angeles meeting Connecticut.